Hip Hop is in a really strange place.... Deep Dive...

[SunZoo]

guarantee that kpop ish has a lot of rap or rap influenced beats in it so this is not really accurate.
plus some other artists you left off (tyler, post, shaboozey) is probably fake rappin or whatever
then you look at the apple music list and it's gunna all over it

so i guess you got a lot more work to do before you classify this ish as a "deep dive"

A lot of the country music is basically rap lol

 

[MajesticLion]

spotifys

Problem identified.

 

[Ziggiy]

No big name releases outside of Carti, whose shyt is just noise, and Tyler The Creator, who by all accounts went left with his newest album.

Drake is teasing that Iceman bullshyt but the singles haven’t caught fire and he’s suing his record label so they don’t have the impetus to put the “machine” behind him.

Kendrick is on the victory tour to end ALL victory tours and may or may not release anything new before the end of the year (he doesn’t have to)

J.Cole is basically AWOL

Future dropped three albums last year so he’s more than likely taking this year off

Nothing from the “fringe” stars like 21 Savage or Uzi Vert.

That leaves 2025 as the year of veterans and legacy artists, who I might add, have been dropping some STELLAR music. The Clipse comeback was PERFECT from the execution, marketing, everything they did. Raekwon dropped a really good album. Slick Rick dropped a really good album. Freddie & Alchemist dropped a really good album.

But none of those sadly, are EVENT albums within the genre (Clipse could argue their’s is), and nobody new or newish has grabbed the reigns and took the year for themselves. JID was the one a lot of people hoped would grab the crown, but his album just doesn’t have the hits or the impact that says he’s THAT guy.

Next year I presume, when the genre’s superstars gear up to release the status quo will be restored.

 

[mrvaughn]

I‘m just over here worried about when the artists I listen to age out.

That‘s the problem for 90% of the people who post here.

 

[SunZoo]

Hip hop has to mature.

The fans out grow it too fast.

Imagine being 40 and listening to new Uzi lol

That's because he ain't Hip Hop, he said out his own mouth he'd rather do another genre of music but "they" won't let him, aka I this is where the money is.

I mean if you work in the industry and are gonna get yelled at if you don't crunch this or that number and make whatever quota, fair enough. But the real problem is the fans even paying attention to all this peripheral shyt and attributing the health and vitality of the culture to people who ain't even 10 toes down in it...shyt Kai Cenat is "Hip Hop's most powerful media personality"

 

[Hood Critic]

 

[TheMailMan]

Everything sounds the same to me . I checked out early probably after gkmc . I check out some stuff tho clipse ,Dogg pound ,nas

 

[ROFL_GUY]

People clearly want some melodic shyt and something they can dance to and sing along to.

These new rappers can't rap but the melodies aren't memorable either and the hooks aren't catchy. Nokia is catchy, at least. So what are we doing?

Nokia reason why it flipped

 

[Hersh]

only read first post:

didn't realize hiphop was dominating the charts... but hiphop definitely dominating everything else... might not be new stuff but hiphop dominating everything.. feel like every add has a hiphop track.

 

[Yaboysix]

The NEW genres that Are running Shyt on the charts right now ....

What lingo, clothes, and styles they got the world Rocking with RN? Just curious...

 

[Artificial Intelligence]

We killed the dude that been carrying the game on his back for the last decade plus

 

[FOUR_ONE_TWO]

I went to an underground rap event here in Houston and it made me realize that there's still loads of talent out here. The industry isnt seeming like it wants to find and put on new hip hop artists for whatever reason. I think the shift towards A.I. is the majority of it, but that's a whole other story.

 

[THE 101]

I agree that a lot of good-to-great rap shyt has dropped this year from underground to mainstream. But from a mainstream perspective this has been a pretty empty year and it still feels like the beef sucked the air out of the rap industry. Country has exploded but pop music has exploded too. The summer (and soon to be fall) was run by Sabrina Carpenter. Or should I say...Jack Antonoff lol. Last year, besides the titanic rap battle, the big music events were Chappell Roan and Taylor Swift.

The problem isn't the absence of hit rap songs or albums. Future could have easily run the summer if he had dropped. But therein lies the problem. We've had 5+ years of no real planning or development of new artists. The guys we thought we next up fell off (Baby) or are drugged out (Carti, Kodak). The hoe rappers are completely burned out artistically and are running entirely off attention. Legends who could shake things up are retired (Jay) or gone (Kanye). And Drake/Kendrick/Cole keep trucking along with no real competition because nobody else is building proper fanbases. And I continue to believe XXX/Juice/Pop dying killed the next wave of where shyt was going.

How do you get out of the rut when labels are clearly not prioritizing rap unless you're an establishedI t rapper in your mid 30s or older. Meanwhile the money that does go to younger rappers is for gimmicks and bullshytters. All that "don't try, don't take it seriously" shyt nikkas thought was cool a few years ago? Well congratulations, now all these dudes burning out and nobody is decent enough to replace them.

BTW...anyone notice that Atlanta is dead. The succession of Future/Migos/Thug/Gunna/Baby/etc is broken. Who is next up? It's done. And btw if I can throw a shot in here...that's partially why Drake is struggling right now too. Who is the next ATL (or non-ATL) rapper he can attach himself to?

Yep. The vets and underground feels like it's in a strong place. Rappers have now cracked the code on how to make music as older artists and it is bearing a lot of fruit.

But hip hop just isn't creating new stars like it was. I think a lot of that is due to bad label management and cuts to A&R divisions. On a major label level, there just isn't enough care or thought (or budget) being put into developing new artists or recording albums. Too many data dump style releases that are just being treated as mindless content for the algorhythm. The general consumer might not have great taste but they're not stupid. They know when music is half-assed. That's why artists like Lil Baby lost their momentum.

I feel like rage was supposed to be the next mainstream wave. That post-Carti generation never really levelled up though or figured a way at taking that sound and making crossover hits with it. Yeat and Ken Carson are probably the most successful but that sound still isn't palatable enough to listeners besides brain rotted TikTok addicted teenagers. But I think the most likely next mega rap star is someone who cracks the code of rage.

 

[L $ C]

guarantee that kpop ish has a lot of rap or rap influenced beats in it so this is not really accurate.
plus some other artists you left off (tyler, post, shaboozey) is probably fake rappin or whatever
then you look at the apple music list and it's gunna all over it

so i guess you got a lot more work to do before you classify this ish as a "deep dive"

tyler didnt drop a "rap" album this year, his only charting song right now is rnb

post is not hip hop and has not made a remotly hip hop album in 7 years

shsaboozey is legit country? cuz someones black they are hip hop?


gunna is on his opening week. what will stick?


you gotta think before you post brother lol I dont even one of your points here is accurate

 

[L $ C]

I agree that a lot of good-to-great rap shyt has dropped this year from underground to mainstream. But from a mainstream perspective this has been a pretty empty year and it still feels like the beef sucked the air out of the rap industry. Country has exploded but pop music has exploded too. The summer (and soon to be fall) was run by Sabrina Carpenter. Or should I say...Jack Antonoff lol. Last year, besides the titanic rap battle, the big music events were Chappell Roan and Taylor Swift.

The problem isn't the absence of hit rap songs or albums. Future could have easily run the summer if he had dropped. But therein lies the problem. We've had 5+ years of no real planning or development of new artists. The guys we thought we next up fell off (Baby) or are drugged out (Carti, Kodak). The hoe rappers are completely burned out artistically and are running entirely off attention. Legends who could shake things up are retired (Jay) or gone (Kanye). And Drake/Kendrick/Cole keep trucking along with no real competition because nobody else is building proper fanbases. And I continue to believe XXX/Juice/Pop dying killed the next wave of where shyt was going.

How do you get out of the rut when labels are clearly not prioritizing rap unless you're an established rapper in your mid 30s or older. Meanwhile the money that does go to younger rappers is for gimmicks and bullshytters. All that "don't try, don't take it seriously" shyt nikkas thought was cool a few years ago? Well congratulations, now all these dudes burning out and nobody is decent enough to replace them.

BTW...anyone notice that Atlanta is dead. The succession of Future/Migos/Thug/Gunna/Baby/etc is broken. Who is next up? It's done. And btw if I can throw a shot in here...that's partially why Drake is struggling right now too. Who is the next ATL (or non-ATL) rapper he can attach himself to?

All of this. exactly what I was saying in better words